Non-binding locking levers for padlocks



June 25, 1968 D. J. FOOTE 3,389,586

NON-BINDING LOCKING LEVERS FOR PADLOCKS Filed June 13, 1966 INVENTOR '1DANIEL J. FOOTE 40 BY ATTORNEYS United States Patent f 3,389,586NON-BINDING LOCKING LEVERS FOR PADLOCKS Daniel J. Foote, Wauwatosa,Wis., assignor to Master Lock Company, Milwaukee, Wis., a corporation ofWisconsin Filed June 13, 1966, Ser. No. 557,263 7 Claims. (Cl. 70-38)ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A spring-loaded, axially-movable lockinglever in a padlock body for releasably engaging and holding the notchedleg of a reciprocatable shackle leg in its closed position which leverhas a portion of its shackle-engaging edge convexly curved in transverseplanes to form a cam surface engageable with said shackle leg, said camsurface causing said locking lever to move smoothly into and out of saidshackle leg notch without binding or wedging.

This invention relates to improvements in non-binding locking levers forpadlocks, and more particularly to a padlock locking lever wherein theedge of the padlock shackle-engaging arm is crowned.

In the padlock art it is customary to employ a locking lever to engageand hold the padlock shackle in its locked position. Such lockinglevers, incorporated in padlocks, are usually spring-loaded, and beingunder compression by means of'a coil or leaf spring serve to hold theshackle in its locked position. In conventional arrangements it has beenfound that when the lever is retracted under the compression of itsspring there has been a tendency for the lever to tip, stick, or bind inits back travel so as to become blocked or restrained, thereby causingditficulties in the locking of the padlock. Additionally, dirt and dustmay cause the locking lever to become tight or diflicult to actuate,with the result that the lever will fail to release itself within thepadlock which is a fault with conventional padlock levers havingstraight or squared shackle-engaging edges.

With the foregoing in mind, it is the primary object of the presentinvention to provide in a padlock, a locking lever which is susceptibleof free and easy movement without binding or tipping, the presentlocking lever being characterized by a crowned formation of itsshackle-engaging edge, the same being curved in two planes at rightangles to one another.

A further object of the invention is to provide a locking lever for apadlock which will operate freely and easily without binding, regardlessof whether or not its spring, due to off-center pressure, should causeit to tilt.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a locking leverfor a padlock wherein the effective edge of the shackle-engaging armthereof is crowned, whereby, during operation of the lever, it will beself-aligning to prevent undesirable binding, wedging, cocking, orturning, insuring that the padlock lever will at all times operatesmoothly for engagement with the padlock shackle.

Another specific object of the invention is to provide in a padlock, alocking lever wherein the effective edge of the shackle-engaging arm iscurved in two planes at right angles to one another to eliminatefriction in its engagements with the shackle end to and from lockingpositions.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a padlocklever with a crowned working edge to facilitate non-binding operation ofthe locking lever, which is readily suited for incorporation in any formof shackle-equipped padlock, which is relatively simple to manufacture,which is smooth and positive in its opera- 3,389,586 Patented June 25,1968 tion, and which is well adapted for the purposes described.

With the above and other objects in view the invention consists of thenon-binding locking lever for padlocks, and its parts and combinationsas set forth in the claims, and all equivalents thereof.

In the accompanying drawing in which the same reference charactersindicate the same parts in all of the views:

FIG. 1 is an enlarged side view of a padlock equipped with the improvednon-binding locking lever, parts being broken away and shown in section,and the shackle end being shown in its position of locked engagementwith the locking lever;

FIG. 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken approximately along the line2-2 of FIG. 1 only showing a slightlytilted position of the lockinglever;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary detail view, partly in section, of the lockingend of the shackle in contact with the crowned portion of the lockinglever, prior to being pushed inwardly to its locked position;

FIG. 4 is a detail sectional view of the locking lever takenapproximately along the line 4-4 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an end view of the locking lever, as indicated by the line 5-5in FIG. 2, showing the crowned formation of the effective edge of theshackle-engaging arm; and 1 FIG. 6 is an enlarged perspective view ofthe locking ever.

Although the invention is not to be restricted thereto, for purposes ofillustration the padlock body or case 10 is of laminated constructionand built up of a plurality of superimposed, secured-together plates 11provided internally with partitions and walls to define cavities forcertain of the lock mechanism. However, within the contemplation of thepresent invention the padlock body or case 10 may be die cast,laminated, or a combination thereof. Housed within a suitable cavitywithin the case 10 is a locking lever generally indicated by the numeral12 which, as best shown in FIG. 2, may be of right angular formation andincludes an outer transverse shackle leg-engaging arm 13. Said lockinglever may be blanked, extruded or die cast, or formed of powdered orisintered metals. As will hereinafter appear, the present invention isconcerned primarily with the formation of the outer effective edge ofsaid lever arm 13. To react against the inner end of the other leg ofthe locking lever 12, there is a spring 14 which in practice may be acoiled or a leaf spring.

Regardless of the form the padlock body 10 takes, it is provided with apair of spaced-apart, longitudinallyextending shackle leg-receivingopenings 15 and 16 which open through the top plate of the padlock bodyand which longitudinally-movably receive, respectively, the short leg 17and the long leg 18 of the padlock shackle 19. The short leg or toe 17of the padlock shackle at its inner end is provided with a shoulderednotch 20 which is engaged by the outermost longitudinal edge of thelocking lever arm 13 for shackle locking purposes. The inner face of theextremity of the shackle leg 17, beyond the shouldered notch 20, isbeveled or inclined as at 21 to facilitate its riding over the crownededge of the locking lever arm 13, as will hereinafter appear.

As previously mentioned, the present invention is characterized by thespecific formation of the locking lever 12 and particularly its leverarm 13 which is directed transversely to the axis of the short leg 17 ofthe shackle 19. As is shown in the drawing, and particularly in FIG. 6,the locking lever arm 13 along the outer edge portion of its top andforward faces is arched upwardly between the lines a and b, as indicatedby the numeral 22, and is rounded downwardly from lines 0 to d, asindicated by the numeral 23. Hence, the major extent of the outerlongitudinal edge surface of the lever arm 13 is curved in two planes atright angles to one another to form a crowned surface. Said crownedsurface, however, terminates short of the opposite ends of the lever arm13 and results in curved end shoulders 24.

In FIG. 3 there is illustrated the function of the crowned surface ofthe lever arm 13 during depression of the short arm 17 of the shacklebefore it is completely pushed into its locked position. As shown, thelower end of the shackle arm 17 has been pushed into the body opening ofthe padlock, and the beveled or inclined face 21 of the shackle end,below the notch 30, rides on the crowned surface of the lever arm 13between the shoulders 24. Further downward pressure on the shackle camsthe locking lever 12 rearwardly against the tension of its spring 14until the shackle leg notch registers with the locking arm 13, whereuponthe spring 14 will snap the locking lever arm 13 forwardly into thenotch 20, thereby locking the padlock shackle. The crowned constructionof the lever arm 13 is such that regardless of the force exerted by thespring 14 against the inner end of the locking lever 12, such springforce can be exerted against any portion of the locking lever in anon-binding manner without impairing its correct entry into the shackleleg notch. The crowned edge of the locking lever arm accurately entersinto the shackle notch 20 without such friction, binding or deflectionas would impair the locking action. The crowned edge portion of thelever arm 13, between the shoulders 24, can freely contact any portionof the beveled face 21 of the shackle leg 17 before entering into theshackle leg notch 20. Of course, when the shackle arm 17 is releasedfrom the locking action of the locking lever 12 by the operation of aproper key, the levers easy non-binding contact with the beveled face 21of the shackle arm 17 takes place, with the latter riding over thecrowned edge of the locking lever arm 13. In FIG. 2 of the drawingshackle leg 17 is shown as being lockingly engaged by the lever arm 13,with the locking lever 12 being slightly canted or titlted due to theforce of the spring 14. However, as shown and as explained, the cantedcondition of the locking lever does not in any way affect the free andeasy non-binding operation of the parts.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that the improved lockinglever is formed with a shackle-engaging arm whose shackle-engaging edgeis curved in two planes at right angles to one another to result in acrowned cam surface. Consequently, during operation of the lever inrelation to the notched end of the shackle arm, there will be aself-aligning action between the beveled end of the shackle leg and thelocking lever arm of such a nature as will prevent undesirable binding,wedging or canting to insure smooth and easy engagement between thelocking lever arm and the padlock shackle leg. The improved nonbindinglocking lever arm may be readily incorporated in various types ofpadlocks, is relatively inexpensive and simple to manufacture, and iswell adapted for the purposes set forth.

What is claimed as the invention is:

1. In a padlock having a reciprocatable shackle wherein one leg of thelatter is notched with a contact surface there adjacent extending to thefree end portion of said leg, said notch extending inwardly of saidcontact surface, a yieldably mounted locking lever having an armdirected transversely of said shackle leg notch, the leadinglongitudinal edge portion of said arm being formed as a cam surface toride on the contact surface of said shackle leg to smoothly guide saidlever arm into the shackle leg notch upon a predetermined movement ofthe shackle leg and yielding movement of said locking lever, said camsurface being upwardly arched longitudinally of the arm and curveddownwardly on a radius transversely of said arm, and there beingupstanding shoulders formed on said lever arm at the opposite ends ofsaid cam surface.

2. In a padlock having a reciprocatable shackle wherein one leg of thelatter is notched with a contact surface adjacent said notch, ayieldably mounted locking lever having an arm directed transversely ofsaid shackle leg notch and having a shackle-engaging edge, a portion'ofthe latter being formed as a cam surface to ride on the contact surfaceof said shackle leg during movement of said lever arm to smoothly guidesaid lever arm into the shackle leg notch, and there being upstandingshoulders formed on said lever arm at opposite ends of said cam surface.

3. The padlock structure as claimed in claim 2 wherein the contactsurface of the shackle leg is beveled.

4. The padlock structure as claimed in claim 2 wherein the cam surfaceon the locking lever arm edge is crowned.

5. The padlock structure as claimed in claim 2 wherein the cam surfaceof the locking lever arm edge is curved in two planes at right angles toone another.

6. The padlock structure as claimed in claim 5 wherein one plane ofcurvature of the cam surface on the locking lever arm edge extendslongitudinally of said arm and the other is transversely thereof.

7. The padlock structure as claimed in claim 2 wherein the cam surfaceon the locking lever arm edge is upwardly arched longitudinally of thearm and is curved downwardly on a radius transversely of said arm.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,983,747 12/1934 Gahagan 382,824,439 2/1958 Soref 70-38 3,194,033 7/1965 Markert 7038 MARVIN A.CHAMPION, Primary Examiner.

E. J. MCCARTHY, Assistant Examiner.

